& Friends on Technology Policy

The Latest On SOPA / PIPA

Yesterday, six Republican senators of the Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Harry Reid, telling him that PIPA is not ready to be brought to a vote and that significant work must be done on it. The letter expressed concerns over the “cybersecurity implications” and “dilution of First Amendment rights” the current legislation poses. This comes as another Republican, Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, declared he was unlikely to support PIPA.

Meanwhile, the White House issued a response to two petitions urging the President to veto SOPA, stating:

While we believe that online piracy by foreign websites is a serious problem that requires a serious legislative response, we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet.

That may seem like significant statement, but as Politico points out, “it stopped short of saying whether that includes two bills that have sent the tech industry into a panic.”

And earlier today, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) announced that a hearing scheduled for January 18th on technical concerns about SOPA has been postponed following assurances from Rep. Lamar Smith that the legislation won’t move forward without a consensus. Smith also said that the DNS blocking provisions would be removed from the bill.

Despite these developments, opposition remains fierce. The SOPA blackouts are still on for the 18th. And on the 17th, Marvin will be doing an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit. Be sure to check it out.